Gragg’s catch his first of season
Tight-end Chris Gragg has a propensity for big catches. The 57-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter against Georgia was his first of the 2010 season and his first as a tight end. Gragg had a medical redshirt last season and caught one pass as a wide receiver in 2008. It was a 25-yard reception on a fourth-and-one against Louisiana-Monroe that set up a game-winning drive for Arkansas.
Mark Buffalo • Stephens Media
Oh, those running woes
Knile Davis got his second start at running back Saturday, but his first carry on the game’s opening play was less than stellar. Davis ran into traffic on the left side, went wide, and lost six. Arkansas gained only 12 yards on 11 carries. Ronnie Wingo Jr. started the second half with an 11-yard run, then two more on his second carry.
Broderick Green turn in a 12-yard carry in a late third-quarter drive that led to a touchdown. The Razorbacks ended the game with only 53 yards rushing. Arkansas is still to settle on a No. 1 running back. Davis started the season opener against Tennessee Tech; Green started against ULM. Davis, Green, and Wingo are listed as either-or starters. Dennis Johnson was the fourth running back listed as a possible starter, but he was injured toward the end of the ULM game in Little Rock and is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Road uniforms
The Arkansas Razorbacks sported their new Nike road uniforms Saturday. The all-white pants sported a red Hog just below waist high on each side. The jerseys were white with red shoulders and a white Hog on each sleeve.
This is the first year for the football Razorbacks to be a Nike school. Coach Bobby Petrino said on his weekly radio show last week that becoming a Nike school has aided recruiting. Arkansas already has 18 non-binding commitments for the 2011 class.
Petrino ‘homecoming’
The matchup at Athens was Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino’s first trip to Georgia for a game since unceremoniously resigning as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL with three games left in the season. That was in 2007 and Petrino had struggled to 3-10 in his first season. Of course, he started the season without heralded quarterback Michael Vick, who ended up in prison related to participating in a dog-fighting ring.
Petrino received the loudest boo, mostly from early-arriving Georgia students, when Arkansas’ starting lineups and coach were announced over the public address system.
Mark Buffalo • Stephens Media
Six-year layoff
Saturday marked the first time in six years the Arkansas Razorbacks played “between the hedges” at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga. Arkansas came in 1-2 in games at Georgia’s home stadium since Arkansas joined the Southeastern Conference in 1992.
It was the fourth time the Razorbacks had met the Bulldogs in Georgia, however. Arkansas lost to the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship game at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome in December 2002. Arkansas last defeated the Bulldogs in the state of Georgia in 1993.
First grass game
Arkansas played in its third stadium in three weeks, although the first two outings were home games in Fayetteville in Little Rock. Both home stadiums have artificial turf fields; Saturday’s game at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., was on real grass, not to mention real hedges surrounding the grass field.
Oden out; Stadther still MIA
Sophomore Anthony Oden, who played quite a bit in the Arkansas-ULM game, did not make the trip to Georgia. He did not practice the week prior to the game. Coaches did not address Oden’s absence, but he was suspended for the season opener for off-the-field activities in the off-season.
Defensive tackle Zach Stadther was still missing in action Saturday. Stadther, of North Little Rock, has been listed on the depth chart prior to the Georgia game. He was on the team roster but not on the two-deep chart. He was not dressed out on the sideline.
Coaches have not addressed Stadther’s absence.
— Dennis Byrd • Arkansas News Bureau
